Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • January 2022
  • Article
  • Industrial & Labor Relations Review

Determinants of Gender Differences in Change in Pay among Job-Switching Executives

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and Eric Lin
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

The authors investigate what determines differences in change in pay between men and women executives who move to new employers. Using proprietary data of 2,034 executive placements from a global search firm, the authors observe narrower pay differences between men and women after job moves. The unconditional gap shrinks from 21.5% in the prior employer to 15% in the new employer. After controlling for typical explanatory factors, the residual gap falls by almost 30%, from 8.5% at the prior employer to 6.1% in the new placement. This change reflects a relative increase in performance-based compensation for women and a lower level of unexplained pay inequality generally in external placements. Controlling for individual fixed effects, observed women have higher pay raises than do men. Finally, the authors find suggestive evidence that pay differences may also be moderated by differences in the supply and demand for women executives.

Keywords

Executive Pay; Executive Labor Market; Gender Pay Gap; External Recruitment; Executive Compensation; Gender; Human Capital

Citation

Groysberg, Boris, Paul M. Healy, and Eric Lin. "Determinants of Gender Differences in Change in Pay among Job-Switching Executives." Industrial & Labor Relations Review 75, no. 1 (January 2022): 168–199.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Purchase

About The Authors

Boris Groysberg

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

Paul M. Healy

Accounting and Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • November 21, 2022
    • MIT Sloan Management Review (website)

    Now You See Me, Now I'm Gone

    By: Boris Groysberg, Derek Haas and Eric Lin
    • November 2022 (Revised December 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    The Dutch East India Company (VOC)

    By: Sophus A. Reinert, Paul M. Healy and Robert Fredona
    • November–December 2022
    • Harvard Business Review

    Can AI Really Help You Sell?

    By: Jim Dickie, Boris Groysberg, Benson P. Shapiro and Barry Trailer
More from the Authors
  • Now You See Me, Now I'm Gone By: Boris Groysberg, Derek Haas and Eric Lin
  • The Dutch East India Company (VOC) By: Sophus A. Reinert, Paul M. Healy and Robert Fredona
  • Can AI Really Help You Sell? By: Jim Dickie, Boris Groysberg, Benson P. Shapiro and Barry Trailer
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College